After the first prolonged period of radio silence in the Patrick Kane rape investigation, yesterday evening produced two bits of news, neither of which will warm the cockles of anyone’s heart.
I’m sure this will be overblown:Chicago Tribune
I’d bet the over:WGN
Next up The Human Shield? Blackhawk Up
This will be a common question:SCH
This made my head explode more from confusion than outright anger:SunTimes
This will be CarBomb’s Legacy and I for one am damn proud:Globe&Mail
Finally good news:NHL
Hard-Working Devil:PuckDaddy
Even with Sid, I don’t see the ROI:TSN
I’m assuming people will have an issue with this:Sportsnet
Ok, the title’s over the top and we won’t be sticking with it, but I thought it encapsulated where a lot of Hawks fans are at the moment (although in clearly heavy handed terms).
So over the next month or so, we’ll be going player by player to preview the upcoming season, which is just somehow 35 days away (and we’re sure they’ll go by in a smooth jiffy!).
There will be other posts to wrangle out what’s going on off the ice, but it’s impossible to discuss the Hawks right now on the ice without really considering two forms of them. While it’s hardly anywhere close to the most important part of the whole story, and no one should care all that much right now, the Hawks could look like just about anything depending on how things go.
So I was going to kick off our season preview today, but Mark Lazerus’s column today in the Sun-Times is deserving of focus. And a lot of it. There is so much to parse out from it. If you haven’t yet, read it and come back to this.
So let’s take it on in no particular order.
-In some ways, this situation is a lot simpler than it looks, and a lot more complicated in others.
For instance, if Kane is charged, it probably works out pretty easily. He’ll be suspended by the league or Hawks or both, whoever gets there first I would imagine. And he’ll almost have certainly played his last game for the Hawks, unless through the process of finding out what the evidence during hearings and a possible triel is it is glaringly clear he is not just “not guilty,” but innocent (and there is a difference, which it feels like some people don’t get).
If you haven’t seen it, the Trib today ran a profile of the Erie County DA who will be handling this case, if it becomes a case, Frank Sedita III. I’m almost certainly in above my head when discussing the nuances here, and this post probably best serves as a launch point for the various lawyers who are friends of the site to explain it out better in the comments.
Obviously, to everyone certain things jump out. His “choosiness,” for lack of a better term, is one. But I’m guessing like most other big city District Attorney offices, Erie County’s would have limited time and resources and prosecuting every case that comes into it is an impossibility, especially if Buffalo’s court system is anywhere near as backed up as Chicago’s. I don’t know what the proper balance is here, and I hope someone or a few can hash it out in response to this.
Be forewarned, all you “wait for the facts!”-ers, I’m going to talk about this investigation without new information. I know, sickening right? We’ll get through it together, I promise. But some of the stuff I’ve seen over the past few days have left me…
So we had more drivel from The Buffalo News yesterday, or at least mostly drivel. We found out that Kane has a Buffalo cop-as-roadie, which considering his activities isn’t a bad idea in and of itself. Lots of cops moonlight as security in their off hours in whatever fashion. No big deal there. And we certainly don’t want Kane driving around himself, which to his credit I’ve never heard of him doing in Buffalo or here when he’s been out on the town.
It’s been one week since the Blackhawks world was turned upside down by Patrick Kane being investigated for rape. We’ve been in something of a holding pattern since, with only drips and drabs (what’s a drab anyway?) leaking out of the investigation, and some of it on the flimsy side. Let’s try and establish where we are.
-I feel like there’s a section of people that need a civics lesson when discussing thing. Much like the 1st Amendment seems to cause confusion, “innocent until proven guilty” only applies in a certain setting. That would be a court of law, much like the 1st Amendment only applies to the government trying to censor speech. It’s why the NFL or NHL can fine a player for criticizing the referees, as they are a private organization and not a government (well, the NFL might be soon).
As expected, very little detail emerged in the ongoing Patrick Kane rape investigation in Buffalo over the weekend. But what little did transpire does need to be discussed.
14:PuckDaddy
Awhile:Chicago Tribune
An honor for a good guy: Daily Herald
Never too early:IsportsWeb
Now lets just work on In-Network Streaming:Let’s Go Hawks
Well this is interesting:SportsNet.CA
According to a report from the ABC affiliate WKBW in Kane’s hometown of Buffalo, Patrick Kane is the subject of an investigation ” involving Chicago Blackhawks player and South Buffalo native Patrick Kane and a woman that began at a bar in Evans.”
https://twitter.com/ByTimGraham/status/629311801130373120
